Research Projects:

At present Steve is focusing on three types of research.

In his work at the Genomics Forum he is committed to directing and engaging in research on the social and cultural aspects of genomics and contemporary life science. At present he is collaborating with Emma Frow and others on the policy implications of plant genomics and is participating in a project on standards and standardisation in Synthetic Biology. In 2008 he completed a collaboration with the Human Genetics Commission and others: the group commissioned a Citizens Inquiry into the governance of national forensic DNA databases. This project won an award from Sciencewise for the quality of its public consultation. He also participates in the project, run by Forum Deputy Director Steve Sturdy, on public engagement in genetics for healthcare in Scotland, known as Gengage.

Second, Steve is working on some collaborative and interdisciplinary environmental projects. Currently, he is lead sociologist in an EU Framework 7 Programme on biodiversity and European zoos, involving zoo parks from Britain, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. He is just finishing working as one of the sociologists in the first phase of a large multi-disciplinary team examining stakeholder engagement in environmental management. This study, funded by the ESRC Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (known as RELU) and the Forestry Commission is called ‘Collaborative Frameworks in Land Management: A Case Study on Integrated Deer Management’. This project compares collaborative strategies in deer management in regions in Scotland and England using Choice Experiments to elicit actors’ valuations of management alternatives as well as making use of novel techniques in Participatory GIS. The first publications have now appeared (see the list of journal articles) and others will follow before long. This project has recently been renewed with a knowledge exchange award from the ESRC, to enable the research team to take their results into collaborative work with countryside managers in Scotland and England (see www.macaulay.ac.uk/RELU/nextsteps). In 2011, Steve is also starting to participate in an international research collaboration with colleagues in Norway: the project entitled "Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge as a Policy Instrument in Climate Policy" is funded by the Research Council of Norway and examines the key issue of the public credibility of climate knowledge.

Finally, Steve is working on two writing projects. First, he is preparing a book on the social sciences in the genomic age. Second, drawing on his current zoo project, the deer work and on his earlier studies of public participation in air-quality modelling, Steve is planning a book on participation in science, technology and decision-making.